Verrett can play, but will he hold up?

Jason Verrett may be the Russell Wilson of this draft. He has everything to offer except for height.

I really enjoyed watching Verrett, the TCU cornerback drafted by the Chargers 25th on Thursday. He won in man coverage, either as a boundary or field defender. He's a sudden blitzer from the slot. He hits. He finds the ball. He jumps out of the stadium.

I would've been hesitant to take Verrett 25th, however, because of size and durability concerns.

He is 5-foot-9 1/2, and NFL receivers are trending larger while getting more leeway from officials to use their size. Verrett's labrum surgery in March was deemed as a "yellow-light issue" by former Chargers doctor David Chao.

Yes
81% (3586)

No
19% (857)

Tom Telesco seems to be working from his Colts playbook here. The Colts had a lot of success with shorter prospects Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney. The last cornerback under 5-10 to be drafted in the first round was Ohio State’s Antoine Winfield in 1999.

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Jones, a former Chargers head coach, went against Verrett a few times.

"He is a guy that’ll go to the next level and there will be no dropoff,” he said.

For all their need at cornerback, the Chargers may have had Verrett as their top-ranked player when they made the pick. I doubt they had a great chance to trade down, my ideal scenario. They took a tough, brave performer who plays fast. Verrett flings his body, which weighed about 180 pounds last season, into whoever has the ball, if he's near enough.

Telesco wants players who love football. He found one in Jason Verrett.